A Better Life
by wanderingghost1257
Summary: Nico meets his sister's reincarnation. Based on a headcannon I saw.


**A/N: This fan fic was based on a headcannon I saw.I hope Nico doesn't seem a little OOC, but even if he does, I hope you enjoy this.**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan. The headcannon doesn't belong to me either.**

It was a normal day for Nico di Angelo.

He was walking through New Rome, having spent the night in one of the barracks. He didn't know why he spent the night there. After all, the war with Gaia was over and the Greeks had made peace with the Romans. Maybe he wanted to check up on Hazel, to make sure she was alright. After all, she was his sister.

Nico bought a takeaway cup of coffee and continued to walk. He was passing a toy shop when a childlike voice entered his ears.

"Please, mommy. Just this one and I promise not to buy anything else for a week. Please, mommy." Nico turned to see a little girl, barely three, pulling a young woman's hand and pointing at an item on display behind the glass of the store- a box with a picture of a forest and a deer on the cover. With difficulty, he deciphered the sign.

Hunter's Pack Deluxe Edition

Contains: bow, five arrows, hunting knife and the Ultimate Guide to Wildlife

Get yours today for only $20 or 10 denarii!

Nico then turns his attention to the girl. They could have been siblings. Same dark silky hair, olive skin and dark eyes. The only differences were their ages, and the smile in the little girl's face. A smile only pure pleasure and excitement can coax out of anyone. The girl's hair was braided, a silver headband keeping the stray strands of hair out of her face. The more Nico looked at her, the more he felt that they have met before. Then the truth smacked him upside the head.

_Of course_, he thought. _That was the only explanation_. A wave of emotions flooded the son of Hades. The countless memories as a little kid playing Mythomagic., receiving scoldings for being obsessed about the game from his sister. Not Hazel. She hadn't been alive then.

Immediately the ghost king had a mental war. _Go for it_, a voice yelled in his mind,_ you might never get another chance again_.

No! another voice yelled. She won't recognize you! Why bother embarrassing yourself .

Go!

Don't!

Yes!

No!

"Stop it!" Nico yelled aloud, attracting stares from the crowd passing by.

The young woman with the little girl also looked up. "Ambassador of Pluto." she said. Nico's face felt hot, but he nodded back, out of both manners and respect. He recognized the woman. She was Emily Wells, a former praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. He had seen a framed picture of her on a wall in the _principia_ when Reyna had summoned him.

"Praetor." Nico replied. Emily shook her blonde curls and smiled. "I'm not a praetor anymore, ambassador. I've retired." Nico offered a hand."Call me Nico." They shook hands and the son of Hades decided to use this opportunity to get to know the girl.

"Your daughter?" he asked, eyeing the little girl who was staring intently at the toy hunter's set. Emily nodded and Nico saw the slight sadness in her eyes.

He bent down so his eyes were level with the girl's. "Hello," he began, "what's your name?" The little girl turned and looked at him, as if just noticing his presence and flashed a brilliant smile. "Angel," she said in her childish voice.

Nico smiled and continued. "That's a nice name, Angel. I'm Nico di Angelo."

"Nico..." Angel repeated, lowering her head and tapping her finger on her lips. Suddenly, she lifted her head and smiled at him."I like that name."

The ghost king's heart warmed at that angelic face. He felt his pockets and found a few denarii in his pockets.

"You really want that, don't you?" Nico asked, pointing at the box. Angel's face lit up and she nodded, her braid bouncing up and down. He pulled out his denarii and counted. Exactly ten. He then walked into the shop, leaving a confused mother and daughter. After a minute, he returned, this time with a box in his arms.

If Nico had a camera, he would've took a dozen photos of Angel's expression. Priceless. She was stunned at first, eyes wide open and mouth slightly ajar, then gave a squeal of surprise and delight and came running towards him. He handed her the box and she hugged it. She looked up at him, eyes shining and thanked him profusely. Emily offered to pay him back, but Nico insisted it was a gift.

The former praetor brought both of them to a nearby café. She ordered a latté for herself and a vanilla milkshake for Angel whereas Nico asked for a simple coffee. He watched the little girl read her picture-filled _Ultimate Guide to Wildlife_ with undivided attention, occasionally stopping to drink her milkshake.

Vanilla milkshake. That had been Bianca's favourite drink. She used to analyze every bit of good and bad in every vanilla milkshake she came across. He used to snap that she should be the goddess of milkshakes every time she talked about milkshakes. Now he wished he hadn't.

The sound of an arrow being pulled on a bow string jarred the son of Hades back to reality. Angel had finished her book and was now trying out the bow and arrows. Being a mere child, she couldn't keep the arrow in place and pull the bow string at the same time.

Nico went to Angel's side and gently put his pale hands on her tiny ones and taught her how to shoot. Nico had never been a good archer before, mind you, he'd tried his hand at archery once when he was ten, he almost killed a dryad. He never touched a bow again. But he had seen the Apollo kids at work, and this was a toy with a glow-in-the-dark feature. How hard could it be?

Angel was a fast learner. After a few minutes, she had mastered the bow and was now able to shoot plastic arrows at the pigeons. After she got bored, she took out the plastic hunting knife. Nico taught her a few techniques, just some simple stabbing and slashing. Angel learned quickly and soon she challenged the ghost king to a duel which he pretended to lose. To him, the smile of victory on Angel's face was worth it.

By the time they were done, they were soaked in sweat and panting. Nico had never been good around children (or any other living things), so when Angel fell asleep on his lap, leaning on his chest, he didn't know what to do-hug her, push her away, or just let her be. Emily seemed to notice his discomfort and lifted Angel off him and took her in her own arms. Nico put everything in the box and handed it to Emily.

"Nico," Emily said, taking the box, "thank you for making Angel so happy. She's been diagnosed with a hole in her heart recently and is to undergo surgery tomorrow. The doctor said that her chance of living is 50-50 as she's so young."

Nico immediately felt as if been struck Zeus' master bolt. Angel, the playful, angelic little girl he had spent three hours with, was to undergo surgery that she might not survive tomorrow.

"Nico," Emily's voice brought him back, "could you do me one last favor?" Nico nodded, still shocked by the information he got. "If-if Angel doesn't make it, would you please guide her to Elysium? She's a good girl, always tries to be helpful, never throws a tantrum and always listens to what I say." Emily looked at Emily, then at Angel, and he knew he had to do it. "I promise."

Emily smiled and her amber eyes met Nico's. "Thank you, for everything." Nico didn't know what happened next, or when the former praetor left, all he knew that once Emily was out of his line of sight, he ran.

He ran up the hill leading to the Garden of Bacchus. Once he reached there, he found a hidden spot and sat down, pulling his knees to his chest and broke down.

Tears streamed down the son of Hades' face. He was absolutely sure that Angel was his sister, Bianca's reincarnation. The last time Nico spoke to her before she went for rebirth, he had practically yelled at her. That was before the Second Titan War. When the war ended, Nico immediately went to the Underworld to see his sister.

She forgave him but now, thinking back on it, she said goodbye to him, as if she would never see him again. He should've noticed earlier, and stopped her from going.

When he found out Thanatos had disappeared, he thought that he could bring Bianca back. He had rushed to the Underworld immediately, but he was too late. She had gone for rebirth. Nico went to the Fields of Asphodel to calm down, only to find another child of the Underworld-Hazel, daughter of Pluto.

Maybe it was the gods' way of making up for his loss, but he knew nothing will ease the pain, even if there was another source of happiness.

Nico didn't understand. What did Bianca do to deserve this? To have to undergo surgery at the risk of her life at such a young age in her second life?

Nico couldn't help thinking that Bianca had made a wrong choice to go for rebirth. If she hadn't went, she would've still be in Elysium, and he would've been able to see her. But Nico understood her choice. She wanted to start over, to have a new life, even at the risk of having a worse life than the one she had.

He wanted to be like her, to have a new life, to start over. But he promised Bianca that he will have a full life, and he didn't want to break his promise to his sister.

But sometimes he wished he could have a new life.

A better life.


End file.
